English Tenses

Tense	Signal words	Use	Form	Examples affirmative	Examples negative	Examples interrogative
Simple Present or Present Simple	every day sometimes always often usually seldom never first ... then	something happens repeatedly how often something happens one action follows another things in general after the following verbs (to love, to hate, to think, etc.) future meaning: timetables, programmes	infinitive he/she/it + -s	I work.	I don't work.	Do I work?
				He works.	He doesn't work.	Does he work?
				I go.	I don't go.	Do I go?
				He goes.	He doesn't go.	Does he go?
Present Progressive or Present Continuous	now at the moment Look! Listen!	something is happening at the same time of speaking or around it future meaning: when you have already decided and arranged to do it (a fixed plan, date)	to be (am/are/is) + infinitive + -ing	I'm working.	I'm not working.	Am I working?
				He's working.	He isn't working.	Is he working?
				I'm going.	I'm not going.	Am I going?
				He's going.	He isn't going.	Is he going?
Simple Past or Past Simple	last ... ... ago in 1990 yesterday	action took place in the past, mostly connected with an expression of time (no connection to the present)	regular: infinitive + -ed irregular: 2nd column of table of irregular verbs	I worked.	I didn't work.	Did I work?
				He worked.	He didn't work.	Did he work?
				I went.	I didn't go.	Did I go?
				He went.	He didn't go.	Did he go?
Past Progressive or Past Continuous	while	an action happened in the middle of another action someone was doing sth. at a certain time (in the past) - you do not know whether it was finished or not	was/were + infinitive + -ing	I was working.	I wasn't working.	Was I working?
				He was working.	He wasn't working.	Was he working?
				I was going.	I wasn't going.	Was I going?
				He was going.	He wasn't going.	Was he going?
Simple Present Perfect or Present Perfect	just yet never ever already so far, up to now, since for recently	you say that sth. has happened or is finished in the past and it has a connection to the present action started in the past and continues up to the present	have/has + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I have worked.	I haven't worked.	Have I worked?
				He has worked.	He hasn't worked.	Has he worked?
				I have gone.	I haven't gone.	Have I gone?
				He has gone.	He hasn't gone.	Has he gone?
Present Perfect Progressive or Present Perfect Continuous	all day the whole day how long since for	action began in the past and has just stopped how long the action has been happening emphasis: length of time of an action	have/has + been + infinitive + -ing	I have been working.	I haven't been working.	Have I been working?
				He has been working.	He hasn't been working.	Has he been working?
				I have been going.	I haven't been going.	Have I been going?
				He has been going.	He hasn't been going.	Has he been going?
Simple Past Perfect or Past Perfect (Simple)	already just never	mostly when two actions in a story are related to each other: the action which had already happened is put into Past Perfect, the other action into Simple Past the past of the Present Perfect	had + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I had worked.	I hadn't worked.	Had I worked?
				He had worked.	He hadn't worked.	Had he worked?
				I had gone.	I hadn't gone.	Had I gone?
				He had gone.	He hadn't gone.	Had he gone?
Past Perfect Progressive or Past Perfect Continuous	how long since for	how long something had been happening before something else happened	had + been + infinitive + ing	I had been working.	I hadn't been working.	Had I been working?
				He had been working.	He hadn't been working.	Had he been working?
				I had been going.	I hadn't been going.	Had I been going?
				He had been going.	He hadn't been going.	Had he been going?
will - future		predictions about the future (you think that sth. will happen) you decide to do sth. spontaneously at the time of speaking, you haven't made a decision before main clause in type I of the if clauses	will + infinitive	I'll work.	I won't work.	Will I work?
				He'll work.	He won't work.	Will he work?
				I'll go.	I won't go.	Will I go?
				He'll go.	He won't go.	Will he go?
going to - future		when you have already decided to do sth. in the future what you think what will happen	be (am/are/is) + going to + infinitive	I'm going to work.	I'm not going to work.	Am I going to work?
				He's going to work.	He's not going to work.	Is he going to work?
				I'm going to go.	I'm not going to go.	Am I going to go?
				He's going to go.	He's not going to go.	Is he going to go?
Future Progressive or Future Continuous		An action will be in progress at a certain time in the future. This action has begun before the certain time. Something happens because it normally happens.	will + be + infinitive + ing	I'll be working.	I won't be working.	Will I be working?
				He'll be working.	He won't be working.	Will he be working?
				I'll be going.	I won't be going.	Will I be going?
				He'll be going.	He won't be going.	Will he be going?
Simple Future Perfect or Future Perfect Simple		sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future	will + have + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I'll have worked.	I won't have worked.	Will I have worked?
				He'll have worked.	He won't have worked.	Will he have worked?
				I'll have gone.	I won't have gone.	Will I have gone?
				He'll have gone.	He won't have gone.	Will he have gone?
Future Perfect Progressive or Future Perfect Continuous		sth. will already have happened before a certain time in the future emphasis: length of time of an action	will + have + been + infinitive + ing	I'll have been working.	I won't have been working.	Will I have been working?
				He'll have been working.	He won't have been working.	Will he have been working?
				I'll have been going.	I won't have been going.	Will I have been working?
				He'll have been going.	He won't have been going.	Will he have been working?
Conditional Simple		sth. that might happen main clause in type II of the Conditional sentences	would + infinitive	I would work.	I wouldn't work.	Would I work?
				He would work.	He wouldn't work.	Would he work?
				I would go.	I wouldn't go.	Would I go?
				He would go.	He wouldn't go.	Would he go?
Conditional Progressive or Conditional Continuous		sth. that might happen emphasis: length of time of an action	would + be + infinitive + ing	I would be working.	I wouldn't be working.	Would I be working?
				He would be working.	He wouldn't be working.	Would he be working?
				I would be going.	I wouldn't be going.	Would I be going?
				He would be going.	He wouldn't be going.	Would he be going?
Conditional Perfect		sth. that might have happened in the past (It's too late now.) main clause in type III of the if clauses	would + have + past participle* *(infinitive + -ed) or (3rd column of table of irregular verbs)	I would have worked.	I wouldn't have worked.	Would I have worked?
				He would have worked.	He wouldn't have worked.	Would he have worked?
				I would have gone.	I wouldn't have gone.	Would I have gone?
				He would have gone.	He wouldn't have gone.	Would I have gone?
Conditional Perfect Progressive or Conditional Perfect Continuous		sth. that might have happened in the past (It's too late now.) emphasis: length of time of an action	would + have + been + infinitive + ing	I would have been working.	I wouldn't have been working.	Would I have been working?
				He would have been going.	He wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been working?
				I would have been going.	I wouldn't have been going.	Would I have been going?
				He would have been going.	He wouldn't have been going.	Would he have been going?

We sometimes use Continuous instead of Progressive. Some signal words can be found in more tenses. We did not list signal words in the future tenses as there are no definite ones. Always remember what action is described. Source: http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/english_tenses.htm

English Tenses - Diagram

http://www.englisch-hilfen.de/en/grammar/tenses_bild.htm

English Grammar - The Tenses

One sentence is put into different tenses. You can see how the meaning changes.
The words in green are signal words. They tell you which tense you have to use.

Tense	Example	Explanation
Simple Present	I play football every week.	Here you want to say that it happens regularly.
Present Progressive	I'm playing football now.	Here you want to say that it is happening at the moment.
Simple Past	I played football yesterday.	You did it yesterday, it happened in the past.
Past Progressive	I was playing football the whole evening.	You were doing it in the past. It's not sure whether the action was finished or not.
Present Perfect	I have just played football.	You have just finished it. So it has a connection to the present. Maybe your clothes are dirty.
Present Perfect Progressive	I have been playing football for 2 hours.	You want to say how long you have been doing it. (You started in the past and it continues up to the present.
Past Perfect	I had played football before Susan came.	The two actions are related to each other: you had finished to play football and after that the girl arrived.
Past Perfect Progressive	I had been playing football when Susan came.	Here you want to point out how long you had been doing it before the girl came.
will-future	I will play football next week.	This is a prediction, you can probably do something else.
going to-future	I'm going to play football this afternoon.	This is a plan you've made.
Future Progressive	I will be playing football next Sunday.	You do it every Sunday (as usual)
Future Perfect	I will have played football by tomorrow.	You will have done it before tomorrow.
Conditional Simple	I would play football.	You'll probably do it.
Conditional Progressive	I would be playing football.	You'll probably do it. Here you concentrate more on the progress of the action.
Conditional Perfect	I would have played football.	You'll probably have finished playing football at a special time in the future. Here you concentrate on the fact (football).
Conditional Perfect Progressive	I would have been playing football.	You'll probably have finished playing football at a special time in the future. Here you concentrate on the progress of playing (football).

Negations of the sentences

Tense	Example
Simple Present	I do not play football every week. I don't play football every week.
Present Progressive	I am not playing football now. I'm not playing football now.
Simple Past	I did not play football yesterday. I didn't play football yesterday.
Past Progressive	I was not playing football yesterday. I wasn't playing football yesterday.
Present Perfect	I have not played football. I haven't played football. I've not played football.
Present Perfect Progressive	I have not been playing football. I haven't been playing football. I've not been playing football.
Past Perfect	I had not played football. I hadn't played football. I'd not played football.
Past Perfect Progressive	I had not been playing football. I hadn't been playing football. I'd not been playing football.
will-future	I will/shall not play football next week. I won't play football next week.
going to-future	I am not going to play football this afternoon. I'm not going to play football this afternoon.
Future Progressive	I will/shall not be playing football. I won't be playing football.
Future Perfect	I will/shall not have played football. I won't have played football.
Conditional Simple	I would not play football. I'd not play football.
Conditional Progressive	I would not be playing football. I wouldn't be playing football. I'd not be playing football.
Conditional Perfect	I would not have played football. I wouldn't have played football. I'd not have played football.
Conditional Perfect Progressive	I would not have been playing football. I wouldn't have been playing football. I'd not have been playing football.

Questions

Tense	Example
Simple Present	Do you play football?
Present Progressive	Are you playing football?
Simple Past	Did you play football?
Past Progressive	Were you playing football?
Present Perfect	Have you played football?
Present Perfect Progressive	Have you been playing football?
Past Perfect	Had you played football?
Past Perfect Progressive	Had you been playing football?
will-future	Will you play football?
going to-future	Are you going to play football?
Future Progressive	Will you be playing football?
Future Perfect	Will you have played football?
Conditional Simple	Would you play football?
Conditional Progressive	Would you be playing football?
Conditional Perfect	Would you have played football?
Conditional Perfect Progressive	Would you have been playing football?

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